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The Joel on Software Discussion Group (CLOSED)

From a money point of view. Do you think that companies will pay more someone proficient with various versions of Oracle?

Unless it's paid experience, it does not count.

I am an oracle DBA. there are no entry level oracle jobs. An oracle developer is not that in demand. Won't pay any better than a java/.net developer and there are less jobs.

A DBA is a seperate skill set. Again there are no entry level DBA jobs anywhere. The market for DBAs has shrunk plus lots of immigration means no need for entry level or junior DBAs. The only way to learn DBA work is to teach yourself, get in a small project or company, and see if you can be the guy who helps the DBA. DBAs are not too good about sharing information.

DBA salaries on average are higher than developer salaries. In the DC area, most developer salaires are below $100k. You can earn up to $130k on salary as a DBA. There are quite a few at $110k-120k.

its just not easy to get into oracle. remember there are multiple jobs. Some people think a DBA is the oracle expert. On most teams they are. Many are lousy coders. Most cannot data model well. Here are the three roles

Data modeller
Oracle Developer
Oracle DBA

They can overlap, but each is a specialty. There are not alot of data modelling jobs since every developer thinks they can data model and many place just use the database as a data dump.

The bottom line is that I am in the profession. I don't see it as a good move for most people to get in, becuase of the lack of entry level jobs. The job role with the most promise is the DBA.

"Do you think that companies will pay more..."

Compared to what?

If you're an Oracle DBA with extensive experience managing financial systems, you'll probably get paid more than someone who oversees a "Mom and Pop" store inventory system. That's arguably true of every technical profession, ranging from systems and business analyst to programmers.

There are some Oracle folks on this board who claim to make $200,000 a year. They also work in very specialized niches and had to work hard to get there; they didn't get that salary simply because they knew Oracle.

You're better off finding an entry level job as a business analyst or a systems analyst and using the opportunity to learn data modelling. If you get the chance to get your hands dirty managing the Oracle, SQL Server or whatever database there, take it. Once you start using that database on a regular basis and dealing with your company's problems, read the books and take the classes. But keep in mind that you'll get paid depending on how well you solve that company's problems, not how well you know Oracle.

You probably won't earn more; however, there is a job security with Oracle skill. my current employer develope niche software for bank and 100% of them request Oracle support. Even tho most of programmers at our company hate Oracle and perfer MS SQL.

Oracle is strong in govrt. and bank.

TheDavid: It depends what you do with oracle. For a Production DBA, no one cares what functional experience you have since you don't code. They do care if you have big project experience, experience with RAC, SAN, and unix knowledge and experience managing 100+ databases.

That is not a coder. This the most in demand part of oracle. This is NOT a programming job. The only code you will write are shell scripts to routinize your tasks and monitor databases(if you don't have a tool).

Oracle DBAs probably make more on average than a MS-SQL DBA, but that's because MS-SQL is so much painless to manage and doesn't need as much baby sitting & nit picking.  It's not that Oracle DBAs are smarter or know more, it's because Oracle has been hidden behind a pure command line management until just recently.

If I had to choose between the two DBA types, I'd pick MS-SQL because they are 10yrs ahead of Oracle in the GUI game and with MS SQL 2005 MS is virtually neck to neck in "under the hood" quality.  I may have first learned DBA via a command line only environment, but I'll take the less stressful GUI any day.

Also, there are entry level DBA jobs, there are not many of them but I think the above poster is biased from his own job experience.  I have seen Jr DBA positions in employment listings.  The other (more popular option) to being a Jr DBA is to take a development position as most developers need basic DBA skills, especially if they work at a smaller shop.

It definitely depends on your skill set....With all the acquisitions (31 and counting), you can't go wrong...why not attend one of the Oracle Conferences...the benefits are to kill for, but the hours aren't.